Learn English – Which is correct, “Humans haven’t walked” or “didn’t walk”

perfect-aspectpresent-tense

Is it right?

'Humans haven't walked on Neptune but maybe, in the twenty first century, it might happen.'

Alternatively, should I say "Humans didn't walk.."

Best Answer

The difference between your two examples is the difference between the perfect and preterite(simple past) tenses.
The main semantic difference is, as detailed by the following article, one of time-frame.

"Both [sentences] refer to an action that was finished in the past. But there is one important difference: “I saw the movie” suggests that you saw the movie at a specific time in the past. “I have seen the movie” suggests that you saw the movie at an unknown time in the past.

If you swap their examples for yours it all fits into place; humans didn't walk infers that at a specific time in the past humans did not walk on Neptune, while have not walked denotes that from the start of humanity to now humans have not walked on Neptune.

In other words, the present perfect also implies some temporal connection to the present, now.
In contrast, the preterite refers to a specific designated time-frame e.g. last week humans did not walk on Neptune.

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